MARKET
EXHIBITIONS ABROAD: INVESTMENT OR PURE HOPE? POSTED ON MAY 26, 2018 BY KHA GROUP
26
May
by Diego Sala (bio)
Today we continue our journey in the opportunities of internationalization by analysing one of the two commonly used channel by companies of all shapes and sizes: international fairs. Blessing (in the past) and curse (today) of export managers, exhibitions abroad are still one of the most widespread ways to make their brand known outside the national borders. In past years fairs were the hub of the commercial path for most companies. Only moment of meeting between supply and demand, fairs were hinged on two fundamental pillars: cost and image. The goal was to “sell as much as possible”, and the cost of the participation represented a “Cost of sale”, like a representative. The customer was converted during the fair, with a “stamped and signed” order. Since the entry into the field of web-marketing, the role of the fair has diminished and had to adapt to the new form of international trade. Now the trend is the interaction with the web, being the fair one of the few opportunities to physically meet customers at least once a year. So the fair remains a useful tool, but will it manage to recover the sceptre of “the queen of internationalization?” Reasonably not.